51st Operations Group

The 51st Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 51st Fighter Wing, stationed at Osan Air Base, South Korea.

The group was first activated during the buildup for World War II as the 51st Pursuit Group. It was one of the first groups deployed from the United States after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, traveling west to India via Australia and Ceylon. It returned to the United States in December 1945 and inactivated. It was quickly reactivated on Okinawa and became part of the occupation forces. Later, during the Korean War, the group's aircraft were some of the first United States Air Force fighters to engage in combat operations over South Korea, frequently engaging enemy fighters in air-to-air combat.

Overview

The 51st Operations Group is the most forward deployed USAF operations group in the world, providing combat ready aircraft for the close air support, air strike control, counter air, interdiction, theater airlift, and communications in the defense of the Republic of Korea.

Assigned Units

The 51 Operation Group (Tail Code: OS) consists of the following squadrons:
* 25th Fighter Squadron "Assam Draggins" (A-10AC)
* 36th Fighter Squadron "Fiends" (Block 40 F-16C/D)
* 51st Operations Support Squadron (OSS)

History

: ''For additional history and lineage, see 51st Fighter Wing''

World War II

During 1941, trained in the United States for fighter operations. After the Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December, the 51st served as part of the defense force for the west coast. Operational squadrons of the group were the 16th, 25th, 26th and 449th.

The group was deployed to India via Australia and Ceylon beginning in January 1942 and arriving in March, serving in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. It was assigned to Tenth Air Force and equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. The group defended the Indian terminus of the "Hump" airlift route over the Himalaya Mountains between India and China and airfields in that area. The group flew strafing, bombing, reconnaissance, and patrol missions in support of Allied ground troops during a Japanese offensive in northern Burma in 1943.

After moving to China in October 1943 the 51st FG was assigned to the 69th Composite Wing of Fourteenth Air Force. The group defended the Chinese end of the Hump route and air bases in the Kunming area. Attacked Japanese shipping in the Red River delta of Indochina and supported Chinese ground forces in their late 1944 drive along the Salween River. The group was reequipped with North American P-51D Mustangs in 1945 to defend the eastern end of the route over the Hump, and to guard air bases in the Kunming area.

The 51st Fighter Group returned to India in the fall of 1945 and sailed for the United States in November. The group was inactivated on 13 December 1945.

The group was reactivated at Yontan Air Base Okinawa in 1946 and moved to Naha AB when Yontan closed in 1947. The group was assigned to the Twentieth Air Force, 301st Fighter Wing. The group served as part of the occupation force and provided air defense for Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands until 1950.

Korean War

With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, elements of the 51st were dispatched first to Japan, then to South Korea. It entered combat service flying the Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star on 22 September of that year, when it moved to Itazuke Air Base, Japan to support the breakout of the U.S. Eighth Army

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